Tyler’s Goose Jerky

We love jerky. Just this past week, Tyler brought over a bag of his goose jerky for me to sample. Now, if you didn’t know, a zip lock bag full of jerky in the deer stand or duck blind is a prized snack by hunters. Making the jerky is a time-consuming and tedious process. If a hunter shares their jerky with you it should be considered a high honor!

I thought I had tasted just about every kind of jerky from beef and buffalo jerky to deer and elk jerky, but this goose jerky was new to me. After the first sample, I knew Tyler was on to something here. Goose makes excellent jerky. And as I thought about it…goose meat has a color and texture that often resembles red meat – so it makes perfect sense to try making some jerky with it!

Here are Tyler’s step by step instructions for making goose jerky that will knock your socks off!

The first thing we are going to need is goose meat. We have plenty! Tyler and Josh pictured here with Raven after a successful Tennessee goose hunt!

Clean, wash and pat dry 4 lbs of goose breast meat. Optional – I like to soak any wild game meat in salt water over night before using.

Cut the goose breast into thin strips – try to be consistent with the thickness. Make sure you trim off any fat from the meat when making jerky. Also, try cutting the meat across the grain for more tender jerky.

Mix together the marinade in a large bowl.

Add goose strips and make sure the meat is well coated and submerged in the marinade. Cover and place bowl in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day take the marinated goose strips and place in the dehydrator. The cooking time will vary depending on your dehydrator and the thickness of your strips. It could take anywhere from 4 – 8 hours. Keep an eye on it – the jerky is finished when they are completely dry, but not crispy. Give it a try – it’s a great way to use goose meat!

What to do:
Clean, wash and pat dry 4 lbs of goose breast meat. Optional – I like to soak any wild game meat in salt water over night before using. Cut the goose breast into thin strips – try to be consistent with the thickness. Make sure you trim off any fat from the meat when making jerky. Also, try cutting the meat across the grain for more tender jerky. Mix together the marenade in a large bowl. Add goose strips and make sure the meat is well coated and submerged in the marinade. Cover and place bowl in the refrigerator overnight. The next day take the marinated goose strips and place in the dehydrator. The cooking time will vary depending on your dehydrator and the thickness of your strips. It could take anywhere from 4 – 8 hours. Keep an eye on it – the jerky is finished when they are completely dry, but not crispy. Give it a try – it’s a great way to use goose meat!

I’ve made this one before and it was great!! Its been awhile but I either left the marinade on when I dehydrated; or I laid it all out on a cookie sheet and let it air dry in the fridge for a few hours, then put it in the dehydrator. Going to be trying this one again here soon!!

Looking forward to trying this. Did some research on food safety for jerky as I was concerned about the low temp in a food dehydrator. The USDA and other sources recommend heating the meat to a safe level either before or after drying, or waiting 60 days in freezer to kill bacteria. Hope this doesn’t ruin the jerky quality but I don’t want to risk it either.

I ended up cutting the Tobasco in half and it made a very tasty marinade. Dehydrated at 150 in an Excalibur unit for 4 hours followed by 10 mins in the oven at 275 to kill bacteria. Tastes great but I’ll dehydrate longer for my second batch – still a little too moist for my taste. Great recipe though!

Killing bacteria and parasites really depends on the length of time the meat is held at a certain temperature. Meat at 165 F for just one second kills bacteria. If at 131 F for 2 hours you get the same result. You can google the chart for cooking time versus temperature to kill bacteria (this is one of the pillars of Sous Vide cooking). Deep freezing also can kill SOME bacteria and parasites depending again on temperature and time. Bear meat for example should always be cooked thoroughly instead of freezing because of freeze-resistant parasites.

This is the best jerky recipe I’ve used! In terms of food safety the USDA “Jerky and food safety” info page is great.

I put the jerky strips in an oven until the largest piece reads 165 F by meat thermometer, then transfer everything to the dehydrator. I then dry to whatever meat consistency I like, knowing that I’ve dealt with the safety issue.

From what I’ve read most dehydrators don’t reach anything much over 140 F, and longer times at lower temperatures aren’t guaranteed to kill pathogenic bacteria. The USDA site gives the example of an experiment in which E.coli survived 10 hours at 145 F.

Heating jerky after drying, as Paul suggested, may not work either. Apparently the bacteria become heat-resistant and more likely to survive.

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